Historically, Bridgeport has been known both as a working-class Irish neighborhood and a home to well-connected politicians, including both Mayors Daley. However, there is another side to Bridgeport: a diverse, artistic neighborhood that welcomes outsiders without losing its strong community feel. A study, conducted by the Chaddick Institute at DePaul University, ranked Bridgeport the fourth most diverse neighborhood in the city. In addition to the Polish and Lithuanian communities that have quietly coexisted with the South Side Irish for decades upon decades, Bridgeport is now home to Chinese, African-Americans, and hipsters. Mayor Daley has moved out, and the neighborhood has moved on.

For many years, Bridgeport stood as a bastion of working class, blue collar life—and then Lumpen moved in and made it into an artsy hangout for the college-aged crowd. Okay okay, maybe that’s a little too simplistic a rundown, but the end result is the same. Case in point: the Bridgeport Tattoo Co. After all, can you imagine any of the older, Irish inhabitants that originally made up so much of the neighborhood’s traditional population indulging in such reckless, spontaneous behavior? I mean, have you seen the ink stretch on the saggy skin of the post-sixty crowd? It’s not a pretty sight—but I digress. For those more interested in living in the here and now, the Bridgeport Tattoo Co can help ink all the snakes, lions, skulls and, of course, big-breasted women you want on your biceps, triceps, quadriceps, and whatever-other-ceps you’re interested in marking. Just look to the walls for inspiration—they’re covered in images of ‘em!